Finally, an Internet connection...

A pretty good one too, almost as fast as home. At 15 rs an hour, a steal.

Anyhoo...

Whatever I was going to say I posted on one of my friend's blog already. Feels lame to repeat it. Triin, the Estonian lady who started this entire madcap adventure going just completed her stint in Singapore and is coming to Kolkatta.

I hope AIESEC Kolkatta is aware of this, but I'm going to make sure she gets picked up. Will thee or nil thee...

I see India every day when I walk out in the streets, when I go to work, and when I return all beat up and tired. There's so much pain and suffering, true. Poverty is a real problem in many areas, again, true.

What amazes me is how, in spite of all that, life endures. If there's one word to describe India, it would be...ALIVE. Every one is in constant motion trying to stay alive, and they do it with a smile. I get the feeling that if tomorrow, Calcutta suffered a nuclear attack, next week everything would return to normal. That is, chaotic.

I watch a particular dog (I call him Rusty) when I go to work everyday. Rusty's hind leg is broken but he goes about his daily business with the same vigour and energy every morning on 3 legs. He is still alive.

Indians are an unbelievably friendly lot. Sometimes a little too friendly. Hugging and hand-holding among male friends are common, but I draw the line at butt-squeezing, that's just gay. (Or as Beyhan says ... Ibneh).

Going to attend my colleague Prasendjit's wedding on Sunday. Should be fun...monsoon wedding. There going to be a long weekend. Finally.

In India, to stay alive you have to switch off your imagination. Your imagination's gunna kill you. When I drink the filtered water in India, I have to pretend what I'm drinking is milk (no kidding). The tiny shiny black piece I just swilled down with my rice is NOT a bug, it's pepper...it has to be... please gawd. No, that's not a rat I saw scuttling away in the kitchen. It's the cat....at that size...it has to be....please.

So far in India, I haven't tasted a single boiled dish yet. It's fried or extra-deep fried. Oh yeah and roast. My colleagues assured me that they DO have boiled dishes. Now that's a relief. You hear medical studies showing how Indians might be genetically more supscetible to heart-attack. B.S. It's their diet. It's going to kill them...and maybe me with them.

Today, I get to exercise my badly atrophied Chinese again. ;p. My group is handling a project for a Japanese subsidiary of AXA. So now I'm pressed into service (in addition to the modules assigned to me) reading Japanese Kanji and translating them into English. I think it should work. I recognize most of the Kanji.

If my entry seems a little fragmented, sorry. My stomach is acting up again. I just ate at a restaurant whose tagline is "Innovative and Tasty foods in a hygenic setting". You know you're in India when a restaurant's selling point is "hygenic".